


Familiarity

by Marien



Category: The Dresden Files - Jim Butcher
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-19
Updated: 2007-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-25 06:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1636223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marien/pseuds/Marien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Story by Marien</p><p>Mister and Mouse, one afternoon in October.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Familiarity

**Author's Note:**

> Written for treneka

 

 

Mister opened his eyes, and stretched, gray fur rippling along his back. He yawned as he stood.  
The Man wasn't in the apartment.  
If asked, Mister would have said he was just as pleased not to have to go out in the October  
weather. The days had grown colder, shortening as the seasons changed, and even his favorite places to bask in the sun were growing less enjoyable.

If the Man were there, he'd have had to tolerate the indignity of a morning walk.  
Of course, being a cat, Mister was nonetheless irked about something; for one, the  
resultant lack of kitty snacks and head scratches.

If said man, aka the Wizard Harry Dresden, had been asked, he'd have pointed out wryly that  
someone had to go procure food for "you pair of walking appetites; Kibble and tuna don't  
buy themselves, nor does pizza!"  
October was always a busy time of year. Mister neither understood nor much cared why,  
except that he was forced to endure frequent strangers in his territory, bothering the Man,  
Mister himself(who was much more prone to give baby-talking or pesky customers  
a pawful of sharp claws rather than a friendly purr, so sorry) , or the puppy.

That reminded the gray tomcat of his intention. He leaped down from the battered couch,  
going in search of his new charge.  
No matter that they were different species. The puppy called "Mouse" had had no understanding  
of that particular distinction. As little as the Foo puppy had been when Harry and Mister adopted him,  
he only knew that these were those-that-fed-and-played-with-him.  
Mister hadn't been impressed by having a black-furred, eager puppy attempting to wash his face at  
their earlier meetings, but he'd gradually grown accustomed to the newcomer.  
They played together, or took on a tacitly shared responsibility to guard the home from trespassers.  
Though their play was more like mock fights, or hunts, than 'fetch the stick' or 'sit up and beg'.  
Mister was still working on teaching HARRY to fetch properly. The Man was slow to understand some  
things.  
Today, would be a joint effort to do something new.

Mouse was curled up by the window, looking out toward the street. He gave Mister a soft yip of  
greeting.  
Mister hissed, and looked toward the other side of the room. There were a few toys on the rug. He ignored  
those. Mouse followed him, tail wagging eagerly, curious to find out what they were up to.

The scent was faint, but distinct. Not human, not animal, not food. There was the freshness to it that said the creature that carried this smell was still alive, and close by.

Mister paused by the radiator and waited for the dog to catch up.  
Mouse sniffed, too, and growled. There was less aggression than wariness in the sound of it.  
His nose was keen enough to follow the trail. Mister padded down the hall, hissing warningly at Mouse when the youngster would have rushed ahead.  
They made an odd pair, had anyone been around to see them. Mister stayed in the lead, moving with  
feline silence, a sharp contrast to Mouse's bulk and bared teeth. .

The place wasn't that big. They homed in on the kitchen area quickly enough. Other, fresher scents  
wafted on an afternoon breeze that blew in from a half-open window. The aroma of meat and tomato sauce made Mouse turn, almost distracted by it.

Mister's ears were laid back. A flash on the edge of his vision made him turn, and pounce, claws extended.  
He missed his target. The tom landed on his feet, yellow-green eyes narrowing in irritation as he turned to  
look.  
Mouse hurried to join the chase. They could scent but not quite see the intruder--scent of woodsmoke, of  
metals, of ozone, flickers of moving green and red and black.  
It avoided capture, but fled before them, rushing along its escape route toward the window.  
Mouse bounded up onto the sill, baying loudly.  
.

"Grimy troublemaking bunch of..." words echoed down the alleyway just outside the window glass.

"Oh hush, Fergus. You know our glamour'll ne'er work so well on the animals as on humans. They haven't  
mortal disbelief and fears to blind them to Reality. And if the young pup's to help guard Harry and his friends, he'll need sommat to learn on that isn't so dreadful a threat as most of the wizard's  
enemies. That auld tom is a canny one. He knows what he's about, he does."

Mouse growled, almost inaudibly, but looked down at Mister, with a "what now?" reaction.  
Mister gave him an approving purr, rubbing his head against the pup's shoulder. All's safe, was  
communicated in the gesture, and well done.  
Mouse yipped happily, though his gaze flickered back to the window.  
The smell of the abandoned stack of pizza on a counter pulled his attention away, however.  
He went to investigate.

Pausing, he looked at Mister questioningly, waiting for the cat to eat if he meant to, before taking so  
much as a mouthful.  
Mister was partial to Italian sausage, as it happened. He bent to sniff at the food. Tearing off a mouthful,  
he went to curl into a ball on the kitchen floor.  
A few minutes later, Mouse was beside him. The dog was quiet, as if pondering the new 'game'.  
They sat together in contented silence, munching their spoils. Mouse sprawled, head on his paws. He didn't twitch when Mister moved in against the dog's side, and began circling to settle.

Another point that neither Harry nor Mouse had yet grasped; there was never a bad time for a nap, if one  
wasn' t hungry.

...Or being facewashed by a dog that had more cheerful enthusiasm than an entire litter of kittens.

"Meeewwrirr!" Mister woke, head coming up sharply.

Mouse made a noise that was altogether too much like the canine equivalent of "gotcha!"

Mister stared at him unblinking for a long second. He put his head down into the curve of his  
back, again, disdaining to comment further.

The sounds of muffled laughter from the outdoors were the only response. Mouse looked toward them,  
his large brown eyes unreadable, faintly glowing yellow for several heartbeats.

Seeing nothing to worry about, he barked once more, reminder, before the two animals  
drifted into happy dreams.

 

 

 


End file.
